Furey: We Can Fix This!

The Issue: Traffic Congestion and the Threat to Our Way of Life

Here’s what’s wrong with the way things are:

Back in January, leading traffic analytics company INRIX published rankings for the world’s most traffic-congested cities[2]. Toronto came in at seventh. When you’re up against megalopolises like London, Paris and Bogota, Columbia – that’s saying something.

Heavy traffic isn’t just bad for air quality. The hours spent in gridlock take precious time away from our families, add immeasurably to our working hours while stifling productivity, hinder small businesses along impassable routes and impede our vital tourism sector.

Here’s what I’m going to do to fix it:

Introducing drone technology for city-wide deliveries is one example of a new idea worth exploring to get delivery trucks off our streets and highways: Amazon, for instance, plans to launch its drone service, called Prime Air, in a matter of months, fulfilling orders within 30 minutes. If the world’s largest package management company can do it, so can Toronto. There are many more such examples.[3]

Ferries linking eastern and western Toronto along Lake Ontario, by contrast, is an old idea for use in a new way: Commuter ferry services would bypass lakeshore and downtown traffic snarls entirely and relieve existing congestion.

On another front, City Hall needs to return to sensible infrastructure planning. Step One: Look at a map. See how different infrastructure projects in close proximity impact another – especially when it comes to traffic flow. Don’t start a new major project until you’ve finished current ones. Take down ideologically driven impediments to traffic and emergency responders like bike lanes, which are underused anyway. An open competition for new ways to boost mobility and keep our City on the go: Ferries between eastern and western parts of our City and downtown rooftop drone deliveries instead of trucks, as just two examples.

Here’s what the benefits will be for the people of Toronto:

Improved quality of life and air quality with fewer idling cars and trucks. Higher productivity and competitiveness. A boost to businesses and tourism. But above all – a City that works again. We can fix this!